putting in depth sounder need help

85Nautique, I installed one on my 88 and I used one of the spare breaker/switches. This way I can turn it on or off as needed. Not sure if your 85 has a spare?

I put mine on in line with the ignition switch.Its the best way,and boat dr is correct you don't want a mistake.If it has a thru the hull transmitter you may find a hard place to mount it.I tried it on my 78CC Mustang and always got erratic readings and I tried multiple places.Finally I had to mount it on the outside by the exhaust and have never had a problem.

I guess I should clairfy, we boat on the river and sometimes like to drift and swim. It is a river with an original stream that was damed up so there is a big difference between the old channel and the flooded new area so the depths are alot shallower in the new areas. I leave the sounder on all the time while swimming just so we know what depth we are swimming in. Thats why I like to be able to turn it on without the ignition.

can anyone post pics of what the wiring looks like under the dash so i can see as it would hung up to the ignition. thanks

I expoxyd mine and now it gives erratice readings. It worked before. I mounted it by the water inlet. What should I do?

1998Nautique wrote: I expoxyd mine and now it gives erratice readings. It worked before. I mounted it by the water inlet. What should I do?

Once you have the transducer epoxied, you're screwed. Brian is correct in that you can get a new transducer and reinstall it where you want. The only way that I know of to get that old one off is get a grinder and go to it. You said it worked before. How so? It worked for a day, a week, a couple years? Or did it work when and where you initially tested it and then didn't work after you epoxied it in place. If the later is correct, you could very well have air bubbles between the transducer and the hull. If it's the former, you might have a wiring issue or the head unit or transducer went south. A little more info might help.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong,but it seems theres a wood layer cover by fiberglass that lays under the engine.At least thats what it appears to me.When I had to reseal my drain hole assembly last year,I could have swore I saw a layer of wood there.In fact I'm pretty sure that there it is,but thats on my 78 mustang.I'm sure it may not be true on other models.I can tell you that the transducer does not work good through thick composite materials or wood because the signal can't go through.

Then I stand corrected,thanks David.At least I wasn't wrong from what I saw when I was resealing the drain.

Mission complete thank you all for all the help!!!

And it works on the first location died smack in the center of the bilge a little in front of the raw water intake… I duck taped it down I think I might just leave it taped I am scared to epoxy it down because it work as is.

Thanks again